1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to manufactured wire products such as wire clips for installing wire fence such as barbed wire fence onto T-posts and the like, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for economically packaging such wire fence clips or the like into compact, safe, easy to handle bundles. Still more particularly, the invention relates to such a method and apparatus that incorporates a labeling mechanism for identifying packages so produced.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Barbed wire fence and other wire fence types are often used in agricultural and rural settings such as range land because the fences can be erected quickly and maintained economically. Barbed wire fencing has a rich history which is often described with reference to patents covering improved styles of barbed wire and the machines used to make that wire. For example, the Glidden patent (November 1874, U.S. Pat. No. 157,824) was widely considered to cover the dominant wire fence and an apparatus for twisting the fence strands.
Barbed wire or other wire fence strands are often strung along a row of steel fence posts called “T-Posts”, wherein each post has a T-shaped cross-section for strength and stability and incorporates a series of slots formed by outwardly projecting tabs along its length for receiving and supporting the fencing wire. The T-Post is vertically positioned to support intersecting substantially horizontal strands of barbed wire or other fencing, and the fencing is held in place by the application of wire clips. As is well known, the wire clips are configured with a first end bent at an acute angle downwardly, with second and third intermediate bends defining a V-shaped segment inclined downwardly and a fourth bend terminating in an upwardly projecting free second end. This configuration permits a fence installer to place the first end of the clip over a wire fence strand that is supported on a T-Post on one side of the post and then manipulate the clip so that the V-shaped segment passes around the T-Post and the second free end engages the horizontal fence strand on the opposite side of the post to thereby secure the strand in place
Such prior art T-post clips often are used in large quantities when building fences surrounding large parcels of land, so typically they have been packaged in large bags that may hold, for example, 1,000 clips. Since these clips are manufactured with a convoluted shape, they do not lie flat when stored, for the first free end projects downwardly while the second free end projects upwardly from the intermediate V-shaped portion, and that makes them not only difficult to package conveniently but because the manufacturing process often produces sharp ends, they are hazardous to handle. When packaged in a bag, the clips become tangled together in bunches that have many sharply protruding free ends. The user is often forced to either dump the tangled clips out to separate them or reach into the bag where the free ends may injure the fingers or hands. Picking up one clip often results in ten or twenty additional clips being picked up at the same time, and separating them is time consuming and frustrating.
Furthermore, T-Post fencing is often used today for enclosing small areas, where only small quantities of clips are required, so the conventional 1,000-count bag may often be inconvenient and an unnecessary expense for the fence installer. In addition, in present-day product marketing, the use of bar codes and similar identifying labels is desirable, if not a necessity, and such is the case for such fencing clips.
There is a need, therefore, for a convenient, flexible, inexpensive and unobtrusive system and method for economically packaging wire fence clips into compact, safe, easy to handle bundles, and for placing on such packages suitable labels or indicia such as bar codes.